


A Million Dotted Lines

by souligneur



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Disabled Character, Fluff, M/M, Non-Canon Male Sole Survivor, Reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5975284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/souligneur/pseuds/souligneur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking refuge in the Boston Public Library. A small oneshot loosely part of an overarching series of a wastelander taking on the role of protagonist rather than the Vault 111 Sole Survivor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Million Dotted Lines

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I have ever publically published my writing, so I am a bit nervous! I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Avery gently pushed the library’s front doors closed with a _click_. Danse wandered away from him slowly, idly. Avery didn’t mind, shucking his backpack and worn rifle onto the floor near the doors. It was a safe space.

 

Worn boots on marble made a satisfying echo between the walls. Avery paused in the archway to the reading room: two turrets, atop piled desks, still in working order; only three standard Protectrons roaming Bates Hall. A number of them fell during their first visit.

 

The library was remarkably intact, especially in contrast with its surrounding area. Avery had stumbled upon it on a walk before, had asked Danse what the building was as they passed, eyes filled with awe. Ornate windows, old-world flags swaying gently in the breeze. 

 

“ _Danse? What does it say, up there above the windows?_ ” Avery had asked, bright-eyed. Danse knew he could not read.

 

Danse shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun, and looked up. “ _The Public Library of the City of Boston,_ ” he read, “ _Built by the People and Dedicated to the Advancement of Learning._ ”

 

Avery smiled gently, and he wandered off track immediately. “ _I need to go see it._ ” Danse had found it endearing. Avery often asked him to read the plaques affixed to the entrances to historic buildings, captivated, soaking up information. In another life, Avery would have made an outstanding Scribe.

 

It was that visit when the super mutants attacked, triggering the library’s security systems before Avery had a chance to look around. Danse wasn’t able to fully dispatch the large group of them before they had destroyed multiple terminals and Protectrons. Avery insisted on taking every mutant outside or beyond the subway entrance below the library; every broken Protectron out of plain sight.

 

“ _Is this really necessary?_ ” Danse had questioned, and Avery nodded intensely. Danse often wondered why he bothered to ask, as it was always deemed necessary. Avery’s attention to things he found trivial was confusing, but it was never something he could actually penalize Avery for as his officer. Even Elder Maxson wasn’t about to complain to either of them for taking their time with things. He had told Avery to continue being his eyes on the ground, essentially giving him the freedom to do what he wanted, due to his specific situation and benefit to the Brotherhood. But Danse, at first, felt that time not spent furthering Avery’s research on the Institute was time wasted.

 

That was some time ago, and by the time Avery had taken his hand and walked to the Library for a second time, he had learned that Avery’s wandering mind was simply a part of him, a part of him he grew to love, like the rest of him. It sometimes led to important discovery, sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes it led them to trouble.

 

But sometimes, it led to quaint moments, moments like choosing books with interesting covers or titles from the library’s shelves, small stacks of Danse’s selections adorning the floor around their sleeping situation at the back of the Hall, Avery appraising each with his small hands, front-to-back. 

 

“This one,” Avery said, handing Danse a book, browned with time yet mostly intact.

 

Danse sat up against the banister behind his bedding, moving a lantern closer to his side. Avery moved in closer beside him, too, bringing himself against his chest, face buried in the crook of his neck. 

 

He opened the book, raising his knees to prop it up as he turned the introduction pages with one hand, his other slowly raking through Avery’s disheveled hair.

 

He looked past the windows lining the Hall, the many cracks and missing pieces in the glass only gently obfuscating the clear night sky above. Bare-branched trees stood almost still around the library, still as Avery’s breathing.

 

Danse sighed, and gently cleared his throat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_“it was the season of Light,_

_it was the season of Darkness,_

_it was the spring of hope,_

_it was the winter of despair,_

_we had everything before us,_

_we had nothing before us,_

_we were all going direct to Heaven,_

_we were all going direct the other way — ”_


End file.
